Nestle is concocting a drink that could burn calories similarly
to exercise.

The food company has employed a team of eight scientists to
develop the beverage that, if successful, would stimulate the
metabolism in the same way that moderate exercise
would, Bloomberg
reports.

"Instead of 20 minutes of jogging or 40 minutes of cycling, it
may help boost metabolism with moderate exercise like brisk
walking," Kei Sakamoto, a Nestle scientist, told Bloomberg's
Corinne Gretler. "They’d get similar effects with less strain."

The company has already made a significant breakthrough in its
research. It has identified how an enzyme called AMPK, which
regulates metabolism, can be stimulated by a compound called C13,
Gretler writes.

Nestle's scientists are now searching for fruit and plant
extracts that could act as a trigger for the enzyme.

The company's research comes as consumers have been showing an
increasing interest in foods and beverages with health
benefits. That's why there
has been an explosion in high-protein products
on restaurant menus and in grocery stores.

But as Gretler notes,
pharmaceutical companies have been experimenting with activators
for the AMPK enzyme for years, and few have been
successful. And if
Nestle succeeds, it will be several years before the drink is
even tested on animals, according to Bloomberg.